Hello to you all,
We have been blown away by a wonderful outpouring of love for O and his brothers who were our recipients two weeks ago. You might have seen our midweek update to say that one of our members personally donated an additional £250 and our Manchester based pals 500 Acts of Kindness also chose to support them last week. We've just heard that Keri who runs Help Club - another group inspired by ours, based in Chepstow - have chosen O and his brothers to receive their monthly donation this month. We're really pleased that these young men are getting all this love and support and we send them all our best.
This weeks nomination is another one of those causes which we knew must be right to support because it came to us from several of our members. Simon Pollard, Dawn King and Rebecca Manson Jones all reached out to see if we could support someone whose kindness and care for the world has left her struggling.
Jo has had an incredibly challenging year - caring for her Dad through his final months and losing a close friend all whilst fighting to defend herself against charges from a peaceful women's protest against new gas and oil licences in the UK.
Jo was arrested in November 23 and the legal battle lasted until October of this year. Fortunately Jo was acquitted of all charges but is now left in a very challenging financial situation having received very little in terms of carers allowance, and not being able to work whilst also having to cover her expenses of attending court.
We hope that our donation will help her cover some of the costs she incurred and also give her a bit of space to grieve her Dad and recover from an incredibly stressful year.
Thanks to Simon, Dawn and Rebecca and we send our best to Jo.
Kindness matters and shouldn't come at such a cost.
xxx
Here is Dawn’s nomination and a link to the go fund me set up to support Jo:
Hey Friends,
Through my network I have been made aware of the current hardship being faced by Jo Mackie and I wonder if we can help her?
Jo was arrested in November 2023 for peacefully walking down Whitehall for 18 minutes with a group of other women as part of the Mother’s March calling for an end to new oil and gas licences.
Like many other activists, Jo was acquitted. But this was after a year of navigating our broken justice system. The justice system is being used as a tool to try and silence protest and restrict human rights.
Jo now needs some support to cover the real costs of defending herself.
As a freelancer she can’t access any paid holiday, sick leave, compassionate leave or other support services. If you are able, we are asking you to contribute to the many costs she has incurred defending our planet for all of us.
Jo represented herself, which required a huge amount of time and energy when she could have been working.
Between the march and the court hearing Jo has cared for her Dad - who supported her action - through the end of his life. Jo gave up work to care for him, system errors meant she didn’t get all the carers’ allowance she was eligible for, and so for much of this year she was without a meaningful income. Jo also lost a close friend in difficult circumstances during this time.
Which is to say that Jo, who has taken action for the good of all of us and generations to come, needs some community support.
There is a fundraiser set up for Jo here -
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